Trip Report: Finally Got Him (and his buddy)

With the wife out of town I decided to spend most of my weekend afield. I got out last night for a little while on a stream close to home and found the river in great shape. Streams in the area are running full with a great greenish-blue stain. I decided to work on my streamer game and had OK luck.

 Today I fished two new steams that endured significant flooding a few weeks ago. The streams were running clear and chocked full of small fish. I landed around two dozen before shifting my focus to a stream I know holds some monsters. One of these monsters snapped my line as we battled two weeks ago so I decided to try and get him again. I arrived on this stream around 230 pm and headed toward his lair. After rigging up a pink squirrel of prey I began testing the waters. After landing a few smaller fish I set the hook and saw a huge flash!

This chunky beast took the squirrel of prey and went berserk! He swam upstream, turned around, and launched at least three feet out of the water before crashing down on the surface. He darted toward a boulder but I was able to turn him. He again launched out of the water and dove into the weeds. I held the 6 weight high in the air and gently teased him out of the weeds. He took a few smaller runs before I was able to skate him close. With a quick stab I thrust the net under him and he was caught! From the back of the reel seat to the top of the cork grip measures 11 inches. I didn't measure the fish but I'd estimate him at 20". After a short recovery he shot out of my hand in back to the depths. I was shaking! I'm pretty sure this is the guy that snapped me off within my reach two weeks ago! After a little break to bask in the glory of the moment I added an orange scud dropper and launched another few casts.

 This guy took the scud and shot upstream before I could catch a glance. I new I hooked into something sizable. He took me to the reel and instead of darting around like trout tend to do he only ran upstream. I held my rod tip high to avoid boulders and other obstacles but this fish only wanted to run one way. At first I struggled to make headway but after a few pushes upstream he succumbed to the sheer power of the 6 weight. As soon as he got close enough I plunged the net beneath him and hoisted him out of the water in victory! Again, no measurement but I'd estimate this fish at around 20". After a few pics I let him revive and released him to the depths to compare experiences with his little buddy. Again shaking with excitement I decided to call it a day! What a day!

 On my walk back to the car I thought about the number of decent fish I lost last year on the three and four weights and decided that I'm not going back to the lighter rods any time soon. I doubt I would have been able to land either of these fish with anything lighter than the rod I used. I also recently switched from using 5x to 4x tippet. The first fish came on the 4x and the second came on 5x which I'm still using for dropper flies.

Trip Report: Weekend of Fishin'

Yesterday I was itching to get out fishin' but with recent rains I wasn't sure my destination would be fishable. Upon arrival I decided to give it a go regardless of a dark stain on the water. I tied on a funky little streamer and headed upstream.

The walk in was tough but worth the effort. I approached the first spot and let 'er rip. I landed a few smaller trout before hooking into a nice one. I steered him around for a brief moment before the hook popped out and the hook flew out of the water and high into the tree behind me. I re-rigged with a slightly different streamer and bam.

This trout measured around 15 inches. He put up an ok fight but was slightly disappointing after losing the last fish. I landed a few more before calling it a day. When I got home I texted a co-worker and he was down to fish today. We got together around 9 and arrived on stream shortly after. I tied on a pink butted pheasant tail with a san juan worm dropper and bam!

 Waters had cleared significantly over the last 24 hours. I saw this fish as soon as I set the hook and was able to steer him around some obstacles. He took the san juan worm. We landed a few more small fish before moving to another stream.

 This stream had only a little cloud to it. I could see fish dart around with every step. Unfortunately they weren't interested in my hopper. I landed a few browns including one around 14 inches before heading upstream to chase brookies.

This was the biggest brookie that I caught. They took an assortment of the san juan worm, scud, pink squirrel of prey, and brassie. Between the two of us we must have caught 20 brookies! On out way back to the car we heard a loud growl from the trees around 15 feet away. We kept moving and spotted nothing but I swear it must've been a bear or mountain lion or some kind of freakbeast! We made it out alive to fish another day!

Trip Report: Hopper Afternoon

Inspired by reports of good hopper fishing in the driftless I decided to put off mowing the lawn in favor of chasing trout. Skies were cloudy and temps hovered in the low 80's when I arrived on stream around 515pm. I like to have a little wind when I'm chucking hoppers but as I was rigging up my homespun Whitewater Valley 9' 6 weight I noticed only a very slight breeze. I tied on a deer hair and foam hopper and headed down to the river.

 The stream was a little stained but I hoped not too stained for the fish to see and attack the hopper. I immediately missed a few half-hearted hits before catching this little fella.

The sun was going down fast but they were still looking up for the hopper. After a few more missed strikes I snapped off on what appeared to be a decent fish. Disappointed, I tied on another and moved upstream.

 This guy came from a run where I've lost a few nice fish to an undercut. He sucked the fly from only a few inches off the bank. They key to garnering strikes was landing the fly right up against land.

This sparsely speckled chunker was the last decent fish to hit the hopper. As the sun set I tied on a size 18 CDC pheasant tail emerger and landed two more smaller trout. It was nice to get out this evening but hopefully I can find a hot and breezy day this weekend to chase trout with the hopper.